Ecco
|appearances = 8 episodes (see below) |actor = Francesca Root-Dodson }} Ecco was Jeremiah Valeska's assistant and proxy who devoted her life to him. Even after Jeremiah's descent into insanity, she still remained loyal to him, donning a jester costume and taking on the alias of the Mummer. She then assisted him in carrying out his plan to destroy Gotham City in order to rebuild it after his own image. After the Cataclysm, Ecco shot herself in the neck to prove her devotion to Jeremiah. She took on the role of the leader of a cult that praised Jeremiah and she donned a new outfit, a mask, and painted her face like a clown. In her cult, she tested those she deemed worthy by getting them to shoot each other, and only the survivors got to be "reborn" meeting Jeremiah. She assisted Jeremiah in his plans to recreate the Wayne murders and preventing the reunification of Gotham with the mainland, she then hid because of Jeremiah falling into a vat of chemicals that left him brain dead. However, Jeremiah was secretly faking being brain dead and Ecco became his nurse at Arkham Asylum to pull off their plan. Ten years later, when he was freed by Ecco, the two of them attacked Barbara Kean in order to kidnap Barbara Lee Gordon, resulting in Ecco being fatally stabbed by Barbara and shot dead by Jeremiah. Biography Early Life At some point prior to her sixth birthday, Ecco's father moved out of their home. Working for Jeremiah Sometime after Jeremiah Valeska graduated from St. Ignatius, he met Ecco and she became his assistant. Ecco helped Jeremiah commission construction for a maze like bunker. Jeremiah would remain hidden in the maze while Ecco would serve as his proxy for business meetings at the company that would employ Jeremiah, who goes under the alias Xander Wilde. Ecco, herself, seemed to reside in an apartment in the city where Jeremiah's associates could contact her on his behalf. Sometime later, Ecco realizes that Jerome Valeska is waiting for her while entering her apartment after grocery shopping. She is not surprised since she knew he would've found her sometime. He asks her where Jeremiah is but she answers that she'll never tell him. Jerome tries to threaten her with a knife but she is unfazed and knocks him out immediately. She then calls Jeremiah and tells him that she's got Jerome and eventually transfers him using a cage. Later, she walks Jim Gordon and Harvey Bullock to Jeremiah. While Jim, Harvey and Jeremiah are talking, the Legion of Horribles arrive and Jervis Tetch hypnotizes Ecco, who then leads them inside. Upon seeing this on the monitors, Jim and Harvey are ready to escape but Jeremiah refuses to leave Ecco behind, since she has devoted her life to him. The two tell him that they are taking him out first, will return to help Ecco. While escaping, they meet Ecco in the maze. Jeremiah attempts to talk with her, not realizing she is hypnotized and despite Jim and Harvey’s warnings, and she attacks him. She gets into a fight with Jim and Harvey and takes them down with ease. She then takes Jeremiah to deliver him to Jerome. On their way to Jerome, they meet Harvey again and Ecco tries to make Jeremiah as her shield but then attacks Harvey, as Jim suddenly appears behind her and knocks her out by hitting her in the head with a gun. After Jeremiah becomes a villain, Ecco remains loyal to him and becomes his villainous accomplice, ready to assist him in carrying his plans for Gotham. Dressed in Jester clothes, Ecco shows up on her motorcycle at Jerome's grave in the Gotham Cemetery, where the Cult of Jerome gathered up to mourn the death of their leader and idol. Jongleur, the leader of the troupe, tells her that their meeting is invitation only and afterwards tries to kill Ecco by throwing a knife at her, only for the Mummer to block it with her wrist and blow an air horn. Thereupon, she immediately gains the attention of Jerome's followers and holds up a voice recording to the horn, projecting a message that Jeremiah recorded pretending to be Jerome, ordering the cult to dig his corpse up from the grave. She then waits for Jim inside Jeremiah's maze with a self-perpetuating Generator which is slowly starting to overload. When Jim arrives there, she holds a gun to his head while he’s watching a video of Jeremiah posing as Jerome. During the scene where Jeremiah pretends to choke himself as Jerome, Ecco gets momentarily distracted, allowing Jim to knock her gun away and defeat her in combat. Jim then unmasks Ecco and is shocked to find out that the attacker was in fact her, just as Jeremiah was about to reveal his true face in the tape. While Jim is being distracted by Jeremiah’s reveal, Ecco wakes up and escapes, sealing Jim in the room. Later, Ecco and Jeremiah arrive at Wayne Enterprises. She shoots two guards and she and Jeremiah both use their key cards to unlock the room where a bunch of self perpetuating generators that Jeremiah created and Bruce invested in are stored. Planning to use them as bombs in his plan to destroy and rebuild Gotham City, Jeremiah orders Ecco to load them on their truck. No Man's Land After Gotham's descent into No Man's Land, Ecco remains loyal to Jeremiah and continues to act as his accomplice and henchwoman, donning the Mummer costume to carry out his orders. No Man’s Land: Day 87 Ecco breaks into the Gotham City Police Department and draws Jerome and Jeremiah's symbol on the Gotham map. Ecco overhears Theresa Walker (Nyssa Al Ghul) calling through the radio for Jim Gordon and sees Jim coming up the stairs so she sneaks away unnoticed. As Jim answers the call and finds the vandalized map, Ecco watches from behind but disappears before he can see her. No Man’s Land: Day 95 At some point, Ecco becomes the leader of a cult dedicated to Jeremiah. She dons her Mummer mask and preaches to the people who wish to become his followers. Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle come upon their meeting and ponder about her identity, as it is concealed by the mask. She orders several followers away from the rest to perform a task to prove themselves worthy. Selina pledges herself in order to get closer to Jeremiah and Ecco orders her to follow the rest of the followers. As Selina leaves, Ecco whispers to one of her henchman and then proceeds to take off her mask and smile deviously, revealing that her face is now painted like a clown. Ecco goes to the recruits and explains the rules of the task to them. Each person will get one gun and one bullet. Their task is to fire the gun into the neck of the person in front of them, while the follower behind them does the same. Ecco counts from three, but toys with the followers to ensure they are paying attention. Many of the followers are killed from the shot, while a few of them survive, including Selina who blocked the gun with her claw on her glove. Ecco is upset with Selina and reveals that she had previously performed the task as well, she shot herself in the head and the bullet remained inside of her body. Ecco holds the gun to her own head and pulls the trigger, laughing maniacally as the gun clicks. Selina tells Ecco that she is insane, but Ecco denies this, saying she allowed herself to look death in the face, which allowed the old her to die. She also reveals that she is fully aware of who Selina is and she and Jeremiah have been keeping tabs on everything to do with Bruce. Ecco points the gun at Selina but Selina knocks the gun away and the two of them fight until Selina gains the upper hand, holding the gun to Ecco's head, who told her she knew she could do it and that all she needed was a little push. Bruce comes into the room, and calls out to Selina. Ecco taunts Selina, saying that her boyfriend is worried, and says she doesn't think Selina can shoot her. Selina hesitates just long enough for Ecco to knock the gun away, stab Selina in the leg, and flee. Selina catches up with Ecco just as she closed the gate behind her. Ecco mockingly waves to Selina before walking away as Selina growls in frustration. No Man’s Land: Day 96 Ecco suits back up in her Mummer mask and robe and leads the recruits to Jeremiah at the Soothsayers lair. Jeremiah asks if these are all the new recruits and Ecco says she thought he would want quality over quantity. At first, Jeremiah starts to choke Ecco out of what seems like anger, but then pulls her closer and examines the wound on the side of her head, noting that she has set the bar high for devotion. The two begin to dance, and Ecco informs him about Selina and Bruce and the fact that Selina can walk. She tells him that she will inform him if she is to see Selina, and adds that she will kill her. She leaves and orders the recruits to follow. Through unknown means, Selina manages to obtain Ecco's costume and uses it to trick Jeremiah and seemingly kill him. However, Jeremiah survives the stabbing. No Man’s Land: Day 157 Ecco is paired up with Jervis Tetch at the Ace Chemicals plant. She knocks Jim out with a pipe, and after he and Lee Thompkins are tied up, Jim realizes Ecco’s presence must mean that Jeremiah survived. Ecco retorts that if Jim is here he just have found their test subjects, referring to the people that Jeremiah carved Z’s into. Jervis asks Ecco if he should hypnotize them into slitting each other’s throat. Ecco says they better check with the boss first. Ecco contacts Jeremiah while Jervis is distracted by Jim and Lee. After receiving her orders, Ecco relays them to Jervis and laughs psychotically. He likes the idea and hypnotizes Jim and Lee into thinking they are Thomas and Martha Wayne. Ecco is shown making an appearance in Jeremiah’s film where he is dressed as Zorro. She also wears an old styled dress as she wheels some people toward Jeremiah as they’re tied on gurneys, then Jeremiah carves Z’s into them. Ecco later drives an Ace Chemicals truck, full of rockets that contain chemicals in them, to the spot where Jeremiah is about to shoot Jim and Lee. Before Jeremiah can shoot Jim and Lee, Selina disarms him with her whip and Bruce tackles him. Jeremiah gets away and yells at Ecco to activate the chemcials before they both flee. They get separated and Jeremiah lures Bruce into Ace Chemicals where he falls into a vat of chemicals that leaves him severely disfigured and seemingly brain dead. However, Jeremiah was secretly faking his mental state and was planning to blow up Wayne Enterprises on the day Bruce Wayne was supposed to return to Gotham after his departure. 10 Years Later At some pont during Bruce's 10 year absence from Gotham, Ecco became Jeremiah's nurse in Arkham Asylum, tending to him while he continued faking being brain dead. When Edward Nygma stabs Jeremiah with a broken paint brush, an alarm sounds and Ed has a bag placed over his head. Ecco enters, removes the paintbrush, and wheels him to his room. When Ecco finds out their cover is blown, she comes into Jeremiah's room and kills two inmates messing with him, before informing him that their cover has been blown. He breaks his act and grabs her by the neck. Death Ecco suits back up in her old costume and makeup and she accompanies Jeremiah to the Sirens Club, where Barbara Kean and her daughter Barbara Lee Gordon are. While they are in another room, Jeremiah and Ecco turn on the music in the club. Barbara grabs her gun and comes out to investigate, only to see Ecco standing away from her at the bar. She orders Ecco to turn around, unaware that Jeremiah is sneaking up behind her. Ecco grabs her and holds her at knifepoint, while Jeremiah talks to her. Barbara Lee comes in and throws a glass toward Ecco, giving Barbara time to get away and stab Ecco, while Jeremiah shoots Barbara. Ecco tells Jeremiah that she thinks Barbara nicked her and he embraces her and tells her that there will never be another like her. Ecco is happy at this statement, only for Jeremiah to shoot her through the chest. Ecco smiles and chuckles as blood pours from her mouth before she collapses and dies. Jeremiah further states that there are other fish in the sea, and kidnaps Barbara Lee leaving Ecco's body laying on the floor. Harvey and Jim later find Ecco's body with the smile still plastered on her face. Personality Ecco was originally very stoic. She showed little to no emotion, as seen when Jerome held a knife to her face and she didn’t flinch. She is also clear, concise, and doesn’t mince words. She seems to solely focus on whatever task Jeremiah gives her. However, she will respond when asked a question as seen when Jim and Harvey asked her about the bunker. She does have a bit of an arrogant side to her as seen when she taunted Jerome about transporting him in a cage while smiling at him. Ecco's morals are questionable at best considering she seems to be whatever Jeremiah wants her to be. She tried to help him kill Jim Gordon by trapping him in the bunker with a self perpetuating generator, and killed two guards without hesitation on Jeremiah’s orders. She would even assist him in his plans to destroy Gotham, and even seemed to show some joy in Jeremiah’s plans to rebuild Gotham as she smiled when she looked upon all of the self perpetuating generators. It is later revealed that Ecco shot herself in the head, causing her to become mentally unstable. She started to worship Jeremiah like a God. She also seemed to worship Jerome by extension, claiming that her insanity was “the gift” that Jerome left for Jeremiah. As a result of her insanity, Ecco didn’t fear death, laughing maniacally as she held a gun to her head and pulled the trigger multiple times. She also cheerfully strolled around while humming, used her finger to scrap blood off the wall, and then licked her finger with the blood on it. Despite her insanity, she still maintained a bit of her stoicism as seen when she entered the GCPD and showed no reaction when she heard the radio trying to contact Jim. She also speaks softly and calmly most of the times. When she is in Jeremiah’s presence, she is very timid and seems to be scared of him, although it may be more that she is afraid of disappointing or displeasing him. She is also hopelessly infatuated with Jeremiah as seen after she had finished dancing with him. Ecco became gradually more unhinged after the Cataclysm, as she undertook increasingly twisted acts to prove her loyalty to Jeremiah. The ten year time jump showed Ecco could still maintain her stoic personality as part of her cover. She even ordered an inmate out of her way, in a tone that sounded very similar to way she talked back when she was sane, as she returned Jeremiah to his room. Even when she killed two inmates that were heckling Jeremiah she showed no emotion. However, her mind seemed to have devolved even more in the meantime because when she did break her cover, she told Jeremiah they their cover is “blownsky”. After being stabbed by Barbara, she creepily referred to Jeremiah as “daddy”. Physical appearance Ecco has blonde hair that she always seems to tie up with a black ribbon. In her first appearance, she wore a grey shirt with different colours on them, a black skirt that zipped up at the back, black leggings and shoes. Ecco’s Mummer costume was a red and black jester looking outfit with a white porcelain mask. The costume was bulky and had body armour built into it. When she broke into the GCPD, she wore her long blonde hair in a pony tail. Her final appearance consisted of her wearing white face paint with one eyebrow shaved off and a black line drawing under that same eye with smeared lipstick. She wore a white cloak with strips that were uneven and half red half black. Underneath, her hair was pinned up in to two seperate buns. She wore a sleeves black shirt, a jacket with short sleeves that was half red and half black and had a diamond on the back. She had pants that were also half red and half black with a diamond on the side of one, and one boot that was red and one boot that was black. During her time at Ace Chemicals. she briefly modified her outfit where she wore a white long sleeve shirt with black stripes under her jacket and some kind of red cape with white ruffles and ragged white tips that wer somehow attached to her jacket. She also wore shoes that resembled her boots with pink rolled blades attached. When undercover at Arkham, she wore a red and black dress with long sleeves and a white hat. She had her hair tied up in a bun again. After escaping with Jeremiah, she wore her old outfit, minus the jacket, and replaced her fingerless gloves with sleeve gloves. She wore a white collar with frills around her neck. Abilities *'Expert hand-to-hand combatant/Martial artist:' Ecco is a master of hand-to-hand combatant and martial artist, as seen during her fight with Jim and Harvey, though Jim was able to hold his own for longer than Harvey. She later fought and nearly killed Jim, only losing when he managed to knock her out. She was also able to hold her own against Selina Kyle in a fight. *'Marksmanship:' Ecco is a skilled markswoman, as seen when she shot two guards in quick succession before either of them could react. *'Skilled knife wielder:' Ecco is a skilled knife wielder, as seen when she used a pair of broken scissors against Jim Gordon. She also manged to quickly stab Selina in the leg with a knife in order to escape. *'Stealth:' Ecco snuck up on Jim while he was distracted by Jeremiah’s video and he didn’t notice until she put a gun to his head. She was also able to escape without Jim noticing. Later, Ecco was able to sneak into the GCPD without anybody seeing her. She spied on Jim briefly before leaving and again, he didn’t suspect anything until she was already gone. *'Inventor:' Ecco apparently has enough skills to design a body armour for Jeremiah, even though he refused to wear it. *'Manipulation:' Ecco manipulated people into thinking Jeremiah was some deity worthy of worship. She even got them to play Russian roulette and caused the deaths of many people because of it. The survivors stayed loyal to her, and let Ecco put them to work in joining the Soothsayers to dig a tunnel into Wayne manor. She also made people think she was sane enough to work at Arkham Asylum. *'Stoicism:' Prior to No Man’s Land, Ecco kept up a stoic appearance, keeping her emotions in check. This likely made her more effective at her job. Even after going insane, she had moments where she was still able to still maintain her stoicism and hide any traces of her insanity. For 10 years, she was able to make people think she was sane enough to work at at Arkham Asylum. Weaknesses *'Jeremiah:' Ecco has devoted her life to Jeremiah and is so devoted to him that she has no set morals and would kill if he commanded her to. She even shot herself in the head, sacrificing her sanity in the process, just to prove how loyal to Jeremiah she was. She will even get rid of any feelings of sentimentality she may have if Jeremiah commands her to do so, by shaking her head so the bullet in her brain will altar how her brain works. Even after Jeremiah was legally declared brain dead, she stayed by his side, devoting the next ten years of her life to caring for him. Her loyalty to Jeremiah ultimately led to her death as after she was stabbed by Barbara, he then shot her dead. *'Insanity:' Ecco was insane to the point where it seemed she was willing to die for Jeremiah. She shot herself in the head to prove her loyalty, which pushed her over the edge. When confronted by Selina, she put a gun to her own head and pulled the trigger, laughing maniacally as she did so. Finally, her insanity came to a head when after Barbara stabbed her, she either couldn’t read between the lines when Jeremiah started talking about her in the past tense and said she was no longer his echo, or she just didn’t care. Prior to that, she treated the fact that she had been stabbed like a minor inconvenience referring to it as just being “nicked”. *'Short attention span:' Ecco is implied to have a short attention span. When holding Jim at gunpoint, she easily got distracted when Jeremiah, posing as Jerome, pretended to strangle “Jerome”. She looked away for a moment, which led to Jim overwhelming her. Ten years later, when she and Jeremiah have captured Barbara, she is too busy listening to Jeremiah rambling and gloating to notice Barbara Lee throwing a glass at her head, which then allowed Barbara to get out of her grip and stab her. Equipment *'Mummer costume': As The Mummer, Ecco wears a jester costume with a red and black diamond design, which has body armor in the torso. She also uses a white mask that only leaves open her eyes in order to hide her face. Even after discarding her costume, Ecco still used the mask to hide her face, although the mask has become dirty and cracked on one side. *'Guns/Firearms: '''Ecco has been shown to wield firearms on multiple occassions such as handguns and revolvers. *'Knife: Ecco used a knife to stab Selina in the leg in order to escape. She later used a knife to kill two inmates that were heckling Jeremiah, and then held it to Barbara Kean’s throat. Ironically, this would be her undoing as Barbara would end up stabbing her with her own knife. *'''Motorcycle: Ecco has a motorcycle that she uses as transportation. *'Crowbar: '''Ecco used a crowbar to attack and knock out Jim Gordon. *'Roller blades:' While at Ace Chemicals, Ecco used roller blades. Appearances Season 4 * * Season 5 * * * * * * Trivia *Ecco's real/full name was not revealed in the series. *Though it appeared as if Ecco wasn't insane yet in "Year Zero", Francesca Root-Dodson has stated that she believes Ecco shot herself, and became insane, prior the events of the fifth season. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xFy1Umq7zhY *Before killing her, Jeremiah says that Ecco is “no longer his echo”, implying her alias was chosen because of how devoted she was to Jeremiah, literally echoing his will. *Jeremiah's line after killing Ecco possibly alludes to Harley Quinn, the iconic assistant of the Joker and the character whom Ecco was inspired by. Behind the scenes *Ecco is a precursor to Harleen Quinzel alias Harley Quinn, a character created by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm that was originally introduced in ''Batman: The Animated Series in 1992. Due to the popularity of her character, she was eventually adapted into the DC Comics. She is usally depicted as accomplice and lover of the Joker, whom she met while working as a psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum, where the Joker was her patient and consequently drove her insane. She also had her own strong solo career and was also a member of the Gotham City Sirens alongside Catwoman and Poison Ivy. Even though Ecco isn’t Harley Quinn, she still has some things in common with her, such as being a henchwoman to the show's version of the Joker as well as being in love with him, and donning a jester costume with a red and black diamond design, as well as later painting her face like a clown and dressing in fashions with red, black, and white. Where as Harley Quinn was portrayed as more goofy and misguided in her love for the Joker, Ecco was either stoic or outright sadistic and insane, echoing Jeremiah’s personality after he was driven insane by Jerome. Ecco was also more competent than Harley Quinn as she technically never failed any of the tasks Jeremiah gave her, and only died by his hands due a fatal wound she already suffered because of her carelessness. **Ecco called Selina "Puddin", which is a reference to what Harley Quinn would always call the Joker. Likewise, Selina telling Ecco not to call her "Puddin" could be a reference to Batman: The Animated Series, when the Joker told Harley Quinn not to call him "Puddin". ** Harley Quinn was discussed to be used in the Season 3 finale "Heroes Rise: Heavydirtysoul", as someone connected to the Cult of Jerome.https://www.cbr.com/gotham-ep-on-harley-quinns-season-3-arrival-season-4-importance/ This never came about. ** At one point, the showrunners considered turning Barbara Kean into Harley Quinn.https://screenrant.com/gotham-barbara-kean-harley-quinn/ **Harley Quinn is foreshadowed when Jeremiah says he “supposes that there are other fish in the sea”. *She may also be based on or a reference to Alicia Hunt from the 1989 film Batman, who was a blonde mistress and accomplice to the Joker and later wore a porcelain mask due to a disfigurement upon her face, much like Ecco's Mummer mask. *Her name may possibly be a homage to the character of Isabelle Cheranova aka Echo, who was a Russian assassin that fought Batman during the events of the No Man's Land comic crossover event, an event that served as partial basis for the last episode of Season 4 as well as the entirety of Season 5. ** Echo was also an alias used by the Riddler's recurring henchwoman Nina Damfino, a member of the duo Query and Echo. *Even though her alter ego remains unnamed during her appearance in "A Dark Knight: That Old Corpse", her alias "Mummer" was revealed in the episode's end credits. *Francesca Root-Dodson only auditioned for the episode "A Dark Knight: Mandatory Brunch Meeting" with a Russian accent, she didn’t know yet that she was going to reprise her role. In fact, she was supposed to appear in only one episode, then it was chosen to call her back. *Francesca was called back to read the script of "Penguin, Our Hero" to make sure she was a good fit for playing Ecco after she shot herself, since the character in Season 4 was the opposite of what she's been in Season 5. *Francesca has stated that she watched some clips of Suicide Squad and Batman: The Animated Series to have an idea of what Ecco's voice was supposed to sound like, she eventually chose to go for her own way about the character's voice pitch, and then the physical and facial movements. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xFy1Umq7zhY *Francesca revealed that Ecco adores and loves Jeremiah, as she thinks he is the bee's knees. She said that she thinks that their relationship is not really healthy. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xFy1Umq7zhY *Francesca said that she got to keep Ecco's outfit from "A Dark Knight: Mandatory Brunch Meeting" when the filming of the series wrapped up. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xFy1Umq7zhY References Category:Antagonists Category:Allusions to other Batman media Category:Former protagonists Category:Allusions to the comics Category:Deceased Category:Characters Killed by Jeremiah Valeska